Budget Facing Further Car Tax Losses

Already facing $39 million in budget cuts, Ventura County supervisors heard Tuesday that $18 million more in car licensing fees is at stake unless the Legislature acts to free it up.

The latest budget wrinkle was outlined by County Executive Officer Johnny Johnston in a report to the Board of Supervisors.

Since March 1, the Department of Motor Vehicles has withheld a portion of vehicle license fees that normally would be distributed to counties and cities for health and welfare programs.

Local government leaders have been told that the DMV cannot release the funds until it is given statutory authority to do so by the state Legislature. That authority was suspended indefinitely as the result of a court case late last year, Johnston told supervisors.

The funds, about $1.5 billion statewide and $18 million in Ventura County, primarily cover health and mental health programs that counties are required to provide for poor residents.

If Sacramento does not fix the problem, it will mean a substantial reduction in those services, Johnston said.

The county is already falling behind in funding and will have to make cuts by June if the money does not come through, he said.

“Unfortunately, the most vulnerable in the community are those who get hit first,” he said.

On another budget-related matter, the supervisors Tuesday approved a 500% increase in a surcharge assessed to users of the Simi Valley landfill, aiming to generate $2 million annually for the county’s cash-strapped recycling and hazardous waste programs.

Despite the protests of affected cities, supervisors voted 4 to 0 to increase the landfill fees. Supervisor Linda Parks, who represents the Thousand Oaks area, was absent.

“People are resisting the truth,” Supervisor Judy Mikels said to an audience that included staff from several cities that opposed the action. “We are in a crisis. Even a little bit helps.”

Such budget issues point to the challenges supervisors face as they maintain public services during a time of fiscal crisis, Mikels said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to shift $17 million in vehicle license fees from Ventura County to state coffers to help California close its own budget hole.

On top of that, the county faces its own $22-million shortfall for the 2004-05 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The $2 million generated by increasing the landfill fees from 30 cents a ton to $1.95 a ton will help the county’s Environmental & Energy Resources Department stay solvent, said Kay Martin, the division’s director.

Martin’s division runs a variety of recycling and hazardous waste diversion programs. Martin said most residents in the affected cities would see a 37-cent increase on their trash bills each month.

Users of the landfill include the cities of Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Simi Valley and Oxnard. Officials vigorously protested the increase, saying it was not spread across the county and was imposed with little city discussion.

Carolyne Greene, a senior public works analyst for Thousand Oaks, said the increase was the largest in 15 years. The city would have to pass on the increase to residential and business ratepayers in a midyear increase while offering no added benefit.

“The cost for Thousand Oaks ratepayers alone would be more than $210,000 a year,” Greene said.

The pleas left the county board unmoved. Cities are able to generate a lot more sales tax revenue than the county because of long-standing growth agreements, Supervisor John Flynn said.

“This is a tiny speck in helping the citizens of the county through a horrendous budget time,” Flynn said. “Our finances are much different from cities’.”